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"A Salinas mother spoke out Tuesday after a cell phone video showing police officers beating her son with batons raised concerns about excessive force.\u00A0The incident happened in the middle of North Main Street on Friday.\u00A0Rita Acosta said she called 911 and asked Salinas police to help her 28-year-old son, not hurt him.\u00A0She said Jose\u00A0Velasco was having a schizophrenic episode as he ran through traffic screaming, thinking someone was chasing him.VIDEO: Mom wanted police to help son, not hurt himThe first officers who arrived on scene said they saw Velasco throw his mother into traffic in front of moving cars.Acosta\u00A0held back tears as she spoke about officers escalating the confrontation from making verbal commands, to shooting two Tasers, to beating him repeatedly with batons.\u00A0A witness' cell phone video shows officers continued to beat Velasco when he was on the ground.\u00A0\"He was laying there flat and the cops kept hitting him. Boom, boom, over and over and over,\" Acosta told KSBW.VIDEO: Mom describes baton violenceFive officers held\u00A0Velasco down to arrest him.\u00A0An SPD press release stated, \"Two officers responded and saw Jose Velasco slamming the female's body into the pavement of the northbound lane of North Main Street while heavy traffic was passing by. As the officers tried to get Velasco off of his mother by pulling him away, Velasco began to violently resist and attacked the officers.\"\u00A0Acosta said her son was not trying to hurt her and she was never in danger. The mother called for a federal investigation into the Salinas Police Department.Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin\u00A0said an internal investigation is underway to determine if officers followed use of force policies.\u00A0McMillin agreed that the video is \"horrific,\" but said it looks much worse out of context. When asked if the witness' cellphone video concerned him, McMillin answered, \"Absolutely.\"\"The video alone is horrific and inflammatory,\" the police chief said. \"Anybody who looks at that video without context would have concerns, because it looks terrible. When you understand all of what happened out there, it becomes at least understandable.\"Full cellphone video: Velasco arrested by Salinas policeCellphone video: Man beaten by Salinas policeAcosta said the Salinas Police Department's account of what happened is not accurate.\u00A0\"My son didn't do what they are saying he did. That's not what happened,\" she said.\u00A0\"I thought I was doing right for my son by calling for help, calling 911.\"Acosta publicly spoke at the Salinas City Council meeting Tuesday night voicing her concerns.\u00A0Velasco has a history of resisting arrest and assaulting police officers. His family said he suffers from mental illness. McMillin said Velasco admitted he was smoking methamphetamine and drinking alcohol the day of the incident.\"If he is mentally ill, I would submit that methamphetamine and alcohol intoxication on top of that is all a recipe for disaster,\" McMillin said. \"He was incredibly strong because of the methamphetamine.\"\u00A0Velasco was chemically sedated at Natividad Medical Center and treated for injuries including a fractured leg. He was later booked into jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, assault on an officer causing injury, resisting arrest, and violating parole.\u00A0Full interview: Salinas Police Chief reacts to baton videoChief reacts to baton video"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.ksbw.com/article/mom-upset-with-salinas-police-for-beating-son-with-batons/1056860>